Classic: DIY Religion

A version of this post originally appeared on this blog back in 2005... and yes, I really did write a lot about the Pope that first year. Still don't know why...

Yeah, it's a little odd for a Baptist pastor to write so much about the Pope (check out my earlier posts):

• Hell-Bound Pope Sign
• Anti-Christ No More
• Pope Found To Be Catholic

Perhaps it was that I dated a young lady who was pre-Vatican 2 Catholic (15+ years after Vatican 2!) Maybe it's the class I took in seminary on Roman Catholic Theology (because I liked the professor, a Dutch guy named Dr. Kiweit.) Maybe I'm just jealous of the cool hats Catholic clergy get to wear. Who knows?

Anyway, I just read a new article this morning about World Youth Day in Germany... Pope Benedict had some very interesting comments for the nearly 1 million folks who camped to celebrate Mass with him:

He asked them not to see religion as a "consumer product" where people choose only what they want from it and disregard rules that are sometimes difficult to observe. 

"Religion constructed on a 'do-it-yourself' basis cannot ultimately help us," he said. "It may be comfortable but at times of crisis we are left to ourselves."

In other words, a faith based primarily on my personal choices is only as good as the quality of my personal choices. When you take into consideration my own track record:

• Angel Flight slacks & silky flower shirts
• the musical stylings of Barry Manilow
• western shirts with pearl buttons on the pockets
• 50% of the wargames I bought that I never played against another person
• the aforementioned Catholic young lady & our dating relationship
• for that matter, the vast majority of my crushes, infatuations & dating relationships
• letting my hair grow out where it looked vaguely like Woody Allen
• my struggle with an addiction to pornography
• and so on...

...it becomes crystal clear that any faith based on me is doomed to failure. One good strong "wind" in the weather system of life & I'd collapse like a house of cards. I need something (well, Someone) bigger than me.

My guess is that you're in the same boat.